Daisy quickly recalled the places she had taken Hengheng to yesterday and guided Susu to search them one by one, but still found no sign of them.
Unable to find Hengheng anywhere, Susu became flustered.
Daisy was calmer than her and advised, "It seems the director was right. Did they leave the orphanage? Don't rush, let's talk to the director again and think hard. Besides the orphanage, where else could they have gone?"
Susu was too anxious to think calmly. She looked at Daisy and nodded.
Daisy pulled her back to the director's office. The director was still dispatching personnel and told them, "Don't worry, the orphanage staff have all been mobilized and are still searching. We will definitely find them."
Susu's legs felt weak, and she sank into a chair, asking fearfully, "Did something happen to them?"
"No," Daisy replied. She asked the director, "Where did Tang Tang, who was with Hengheng, usually like to go in the orphanage?"
The director glanced at Susu and said somewhat awkwardly, "Since this child came to the orphanage, she has always clamored to find her biological parents. When she first arrived, she ran away secretly twice, but fortunately, staff members discovered her. We educated her, and she became much better behaved and hasn't run away since."
Upon hearing this, Susu became angry and asked, "Director, why didn't you tell me this when I came to see you this morning?"
"I didn't expect them to disappear together. Besides, they were in the same classroom as all the children of the same age, so such a thing shouldn't have happened. Alas, who knew that the caregiver in the classroom only went to the restroom, and they both vanished."
Susu knew she couldn't blame the director, as no one expected this to happen, but she was worried and anxious.
Daisy asked, "If the girl named Tang Tang has biological parents, why is she still in the orphanage? Where does she intend to find her parents?"
The director quickly said, "She previously said she was going to Lancheng to find her parents. We also asked her to tell us the names of her parents and their address. However, when this information was given to the police for investigation, it turned out that the people she mentioned were not in the household registration records, and the area where she vaguely described the address was demolished, leaving no trace. Therefore, both we and the police suspect she was making it up."
"Can such a young child tell lies?" Daisy asked.
The director explained, "Some children, even without parents, will imagine parents. This situation is not impossible."
"Then how was she sent to the orphanage?" Susu couldn't help but ask.
The director recalled, "Half a year ago, someone saw her with a middle-aged woman at the train station in town. She told passersby that this person was not her mother. But the woman, seeing her trying to escape and resist, hit and scolded her, and forcibly made her drink mineral water. Some kind people came forward to inquire and called the police. The woman, seeing the crowd growing, hurriedly abandoned her and ran away. Later, the police confirmed that the woman was likely a trafficker, but they couldn't find her relatives, so they sent her here."
"So, it's possible she was trafficked here?" Daisy analyzed.
The director nodded and said, "But what's strange is that the police posted her photo on the missing children's information website, and no one came forward to claim her. So, she could only stay in our orphanage."
Susu suddenly thought of something and stood up, saying, "If Hengheng left with Tang Tang, they would try to go to Lancheng after leaving the orphanage."
"Did they go down the mountain to the train station?" Daisy followed her train of thought.
Susu immediately said, "Let's go to the train station to look!"
The director hurriedly said, "No way, can such young children go to the train station by themselves? And they couldn't have left the orphanage. The surveillance at the entrance doesn't show them leaving."
Susu remembered a dog hole she had discovered under the orphanage wall when she was young. They used to sneak out through the dog hole to play on the mountain behind.
"Perhaps they didn't have to use the main gate," Susu said, looking for the half-man-high opening hidden by dense vegetation from memory.
Daisy quickly followed her, and even the director followed them to the courtyard wall where a large tree stood.
Susu was unsure if the hole had been sealed. Relying on her memory, she pushed aside the weeds at the base of the wall. The hole was still there, only the surrounding grass was denser.
No one would normally pay attention to it; perhaps Tang Tang herself had discovered this hole.
Susu simply crawled out of the hole, and Daisy followed her. The director did not follow but notified the staff to search for the two children outside the wall.
Outside was a mountain path, one leading uphill and the other leading to the road that went down to the main entrance.
Susu hurried down the path, walking and taking out her phone to contact Xiaolin.
"Xiaolin, we're going to the train station. Hurry and drive to the main entrance to wait for us."
"Train station?" Xiaolin asked curiously. "Aren't we driving back tomorrow? Young Madam, where are you? I don't see you at the celebration venue."
"Daisy and I are outside the orphanage and will be at the main entrance soon. Don't ask so many questions, just go drive." Susu urged.
"Okay."
Susu and Daisy almost ran to the main entrance but still hadn't seen Xiaolin's car.
They anxiously looked around, and soon Xiaolin drove over.
Susu hastily pulled open the car door, about to say they were going to the train station, when she discovered Hengheng and Tang Tang sitting in the back seat.
"Young Madam, what's going on? I went to get the car just now and found Young Master Hengheng and a little girl hiding in the car, which startled me," Xiaolin asked with wide eyes.
Susu pulled Hengheng over and yelled at him with a mix of anger and tears, "Why did you get into the car without telling the adults!"
Hengheng immediately started crying with a wronged expression.
"You child, you're still wronged! Do you know you scared Daisy Auntie and me to death? And so many people are looking for you everywhere!" Saying this, Susu really wished she could spank him.
Tang Tang said, "Auntie, it was me. I asked Hengheng to take me away from here to find my mom and dad. It's not his fault."
Susu said sternly to both of them, "No matter whose idea it was, you are too willful and reckless! What if you met bad people? What if something unexpected happened?"
Saying this, she grabbed Hengheng's hand, spanked his palm twice, and asked, "Do you know you were wrong?"
Hengheng dared not cry anymore and said in a muffled voice, "Mom, I know I was wrong. I'll never dare to do it again."
"Do you know what you did wrong?" Susu asked again.
Hengheng shook his head with a wronged look.
Susu spanked his palm again and said, "You were wrong for running out with Tang Tang without adult permission! You were wrong for making everyone worry about you!"
"I know," Hengheng said, looking at her pitifully.